For many students, the hottest spot on a Friday night is the
Internet. With Thefacebook.com, Friendster, MySpace and the
ubiquitous AOL Instant Messenger software all competing for
people’s online social lives, it’s a wonder that
students even leave their dorm rooms at all. It takes something
exciting to make these hermits get up and dance ““ that
something is free shared music.
The software of choice for students who play music on their
computer is Apple’s iTunes, available for free downloading on
the Apple Web site. In addition to playlists and CD-burning
functions, it automatically searches out other users on the same
network, letting people peruse others’ libraries and play
their songs. With instantaneous access to thousands of songs, who
needs Kazaa?
“Using iTunes has saved me the hassle of
downloading,” said Lauren Stienstra, a second-year student.
“If I hear something I like, I can just play it from their
computer, and it saves me CDs, space on my hard drive and anxiety
about getting caught. I listen to country music, and it’s
easy to find people who like the same thing through the
program.”
The service provided by iTunes is simply streaming audio, a
legal listening method, and the convenience of the software is hard
to deny.
“I like being able to listen to something in a
friend’s room and then just come back to my room and put it
on while I study,” said Stienstra.
With the ethernet connection offered by UCLA housing, entire
floors are on the same network. Last year in Dykstra Hall, for
instance, iTunes software on Jay Lubow’s computer in Room 820
not only picked up the music of people on his side of the hall, but
extended its reach to Kristen Kang’s computer on the ninth
floor. Lubow, a microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics
student, and Kang, a second-year music student, discovered a mutual
love for both the Spice Girls and Beethoven, and their friendship
blossomed.
“I started browsing his files one day and we talked on
AIM. I had a computer problem so I came downstairs to have him help
me and met him and his roommate,” said Kang, whose
socializing is restricted by a busy schedule that includes hours of
music classes, practice time and concerts in addition to her
General Education requirements.
Lauren Clark has a similar story about one of her
floor-mates.
“She lived way down the hall from me and we never really
talked until one day when I noticed that she’d begun sharing
her music,” Clark said. “I ran into her waiting for the
elevator once and instantly started in on a rant about how great
her taste in music was, and how it made me sad when she turned it
off at night.”
The two spent the next day together, bonding over Girl Scout
cookies and Nick Drake.
This trend has spread beyond UCLA, as other schools have
discovered the potential of iTunes. Matt Levitt of the University
of Pennsylvania met his girlfriend through the software.
“I was looking to see if there were any kids with good
taste in my dorm, and I came across a user with Wilco and Ryan
Adams, two of my favorites,” said Levitt. “I found out
she was right down the hall, so I walked over to talk about the
bands we both liked and we hit it off.”
The two have been going strong ever since then. Though similar
taste in music is not the only ingredient for a successful
relationship, a great soundtrack can only complement a great
romance.
Finding friends in college can sometimes be a daunting process.
Despite the multitudes of friendly faces in dorms and classrooms,
it’s easy for new students to become intimidated and retreat
into their rooms. As students find themselves heading to their
computers this fall to put their headphones on, there could be a
potential friend doing the same thing down the hall.